Sheriff’s deputies to begin issuing e-citations in Madison County

Published 10:18 pm, Monday, March 28, 2016

EDWARDSVILLE — A new electronic ticket system in Madison County will speed up the time it takes for officers to write tickets, saving time and money, county officials said.

The e-citation will reduce the time it takes to issue a citation, Circuit Clerk Mark Von Nida said. Instead of paper tickets and carbons, the information would be automatically entered into the computer systems of the circuit clerk and sheriff’s office.

The new system will be in the hands of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office at first, but eventually all the police agencies in the county will be able to issue e-tickets. Officials hope that all agencies will be on the program within the year.

Officials expect the new system to cut the time it takes to get a ticket from 15 minutes to less than five minutes.

When a police officer currently writes a ticket, he gives the top paper copy to the offender. A carbon copy goes back to the police department where it has to be put into a system for tracking. Another carbon is transported to the Circuit Clerk’s Office, where it is also keyed in.

“Not only is it a duplication of effort, it’s a duplication of effort done badly,” Von Nida said, noting that there are occasionally mistakes made with all the transcriptions.

The new way will allow an officer to download information from the squad car straight to the police department, where it can then be shared in integrated fashion with the Circuit Clerk’s Office. The officer can print a copy for the offender. This saves time of writing manual tickets and entering them into the court computer system.

The system can also allow officers to scan driver’s licenses, capture vehicle information and notify officers of warrants and stolen vehicles on file in statewide computer records.

Sheriff John Lakin said the most important feature from his point of view is the relative safety the new system will offer officers.

“The less amount of time and officer has to stay out on the side of a busy road issuing a citation, the safer the officer will be,” Lakin said. “Traffic stops can be extremely dangerous, and this solution will improve the standards for safety both for the officer and the driver.”

State statue allows fees on each ticket to pay for the program. Since 2011, the Madison County Circuit Clerk’s Office has been collecting a $5 fee on all traffic tickets that required a court appearance. The revenue from those fees will pay the costs to the clerk’s office and the issuing police agency.

The Madison County Board approved a payment of $49,483 in July 2015 to pay for software, training, implementation and 15 printers for squad cars used by the deputies.

The county Information Technology Department, the sheriff’s office and the circuit clerk’s office have spent hours preparing for the state of this program.